FIG. 5 of this specification shows a conventional lock detecting connector comprising a male connector housing 1 and a female connector housing 5. The male connector housing 1 has a pair of long and thin detecting terminal fittings 3 protruding into a hood 2, and the detecting terminal fittings 3 are aligned horizontally with respect to one another. An overhanging rib 4 extends along the upper faces of the detecting terminal fittings 3. Further, the female connector housing 5 has a pair of short circuiting terminal fittings 6 comprising resilient contact members 6A.
When both the connector housings 1 and 5 are correctly fitted together, the resilient contact members 6A make contact with the pair of detecting terminal fittings 3. By short circuiting these detecting terminal fittings 3, the correct fitting position is detected. In the case where the female connector housing 5 is partially inserted into the hood 2, a locking arm 7 of the female connector housing 5 presses the resilient contact member 6A downwards, thereby releasing the short-circuit between the detecting terminal fittings 3. This results in the partially inserted state being detected.
In the detecting connector described above, the height of the detecting terminal fittings 3 is set by their position relative to the lower face of the rib 4. The lower face of the rib 4 is formed so as to be parallel to the insertion direction of the housings 1 and 5, the detecting terminal fittings 3 also being inserted into the housing 1 parallel to this direction and being located so as to rest along the lower face of the rib 4. Difficulties exist in achieving the correct alignment between the terminal fittings 3 and the lower face of the rib 4. If the detecting terminal fittings 3 change shape even slightly during, or prior to, their insertion into the housing 1, they may not rest along the lower face of the rib 4 and instead bend downward from the lower face of the rib 4. This results in the detecting terminal fittings being provided below their correct height. If the detecting terminal fittings 3 end up lower than their correct height, there exists the possibility of the lock detection feature no long operating correctly even if the difference in height is very small.
The present invention has been developed after taking the above problem into consideration, and aims to ensure that detecting terminal fittings are positioned with greater accuracy.
According to the invention there is provided a lock detecting connector comprising a pair of mutually fitting connector housings and a locking means for locking the two connector housings together, one of the connector housings have a male terminal fitting protruding towards the other connector housing and a support rib protruding along the male terminal fitting, the other connector housing having a female terminal fitting for electrical contact with the male terminal fitting, a locked state being detected, in use, if the female terminal fitting makes electrical contact with the terminal fitting, characterised in that a contact face of the support rib which makes contact with the male terminal fitting is inclined relative to the direction of fitting of the connector housings, the male terminal fitting making close contact in a resilient manner with the inclined contact face.
In use, when the male terminal fitting is inserted into the housing it is deflected along the inclined contact face of the rib. The resilient nature of the material from which the male fitting is manufactured ensures that it is sprung against the contact face. The male terminal fitting may take the form of a pair of detecting terminal fittings and the female terminal fitting may be a short circuit terminal fitting. In such an embodiment the locked state is detected if the short circuit terminal short circuits the detecting terminal fittings.
In a preferred embodiment a face of the rib opposite to that of the contact face is tapered with respect to the direction of fitting of the connector housings. A portion of the face opposite to the contact face at the root of the rib may also be parallel to the direction of fitting of the connector housings. The tapered rib enables the housing to be easily removed from a mould or former used in production of the connector housing.
The rib may preferably protrude from a rear face wall of the connector housing and into a hood of the connector housing the contact face of the rib may be inclined towards an inner surface of the hood. In a preferred embodiment the male terminal fitting is insertable into the connector housing in a direction parallel to the direction of fitting between the connector housings prior to being deflected by the contact face of the rib .